whoa. that was intense. while i’m not happy with my presentation at TEDxLibrarians, i am happy that i accepted the challenge (doing things that scare me n’all). such a learning experience. rock.
the event, however, was wonderful. many thanks to the organizers for a such a thought-provoking day. shelley and fiacre – you guys are the best.
here is the talk i meant to give.
so when thinking about this talk, i started thinking about things i do everyday
i use and evaluate new technologies – from high speed book scanners to the semantic web
i educate my community – from finding accurate authoritative information to author rights
i design new service and spaces – both in meatspace and cyberspace
and where do i do all of this?
i almost never refer to this as the place where i work. because the library is a building, and what we do, what librarians do, is more than just what can be found in a building. in fact, the very reason most of us do what we do, is because we want to bring the library to the community, and not vice versa.
when people ask where i work, i typically say…
i like this term. this is what i’m passionate about. it’s… vast. it represents all the different kinds of librarians out there – public, academic, special.
it means more than just books on shelves in buildings. it’s more than bunheads and shelvers.
it’s a community of people who believe that helping people find and do things is what makes the world a better place.
it is everyone who wants to provide access to information, because…
because access to information is a human right. i believe this. librarylanders believe this.
we see this as a driving force for what we do and why for many of us, this is a vocation, not a job. i’m not a librarian for the bling. i’m a librarian because i fundamentally believe that i can help make society a better place to live by figuring out ways to provide better access to information. so when i’m having a bad day, and stressed about budgets, and policies, and workplace shenanigans, i remember: THIS IS WHY I DO IT.
librarians as thought leaders is a killer concept.
being a librarian, i know that there are many definitions of thought leader – from business literature, HR blogs, philosophy texts, and various talks given by people held at airport hotels on a saturday morning.
but when i think of librarians as thought leaders, i think of…
revolutionaries.
believing in access to information as a human right means fighting for our communities. fighting to make sure the digital divide continues to shrink. fighting for privacy for our users. fighting against the entire concept of censorship. and lately, fighting for libraries.
so this is my call to arms. librarians are revolutionaries, and society needs us. and no i don’t mean killing all the things with fire.
true thought leaders, true revolutionaries, are willing to overthrow the system, or join it, if that’s what works best for their community.
there is a long list of things that are worth fighting for, and worrying about.
but there are also things that i am not worried about:
the end of print books
the end of libraries
students using wikipedia
google replacing librarians (my brain beats a google algorithm in any street fight. please note: i fight dirty).
there are things that we should worry about – and as librarians are uniquely placed to fight for.
the scholarly communication system needs a complete overhaul.
scholarship has moved online, publishers need to adapt and change.
librarians are uniquely positioned to help fix scholarly publishing. we support research and publishing on a daily basis. allowing publishers to then charge us ridiculous sums of money to make this research, which we helped produce, available to our communities, is ludicrous. as one of my favourite librarians recently said “we don’t owe publishers a living”.
and as a librarian if you are not supporting the open access movement, ask yourself if you really believe that access to information is a human right.
another issue that we can help fix -
access to electronic content has been taken over by large corporations who ultimately care more about the bottom line, than the community. Harry Potter is coming to the ebook format. but only available through the publisher’s website, not through the library. this despite the fact libraries have build entire reading programs for kids around Harry Potter and are, i would argue, responsible for much of the success of the series.
and there is more, there’s always more. the fight for net neutrality – that is our fight.
it’s time for a renewal, and, okay, i’m going to say it… CHANGE?
there is lots to be fixed. revolutionaries are doers, not sayers. revolutionaries don’t make provocative statements, they take radical action.
they are always looking for ways to make society better. they don’t shake their heads and say “but this is how we’ve always done it”.
they…
challenge legacy processes.
all of them.
often.
it’s a kickass time to be a librarian. so many opportunities to make society better. and that’s why we do this, right? we aren’t becoming millionaires. we aren’t going to rule the world (ok, maybe we will). so what are we?
we are educators (if you don’t think you are because you don’t do officially do “instruction”, just ask your friends. i guarantee you are the person that they go to with questions on a regular basis)
we are ninjas (no one sees us coming, and then POW we smackdown a school board who wants to ban a kids book about growing up in a gay family)
we are curious (that old adage about curiosity killing the cat? think about how curious librarians are. then think about librarians and cats. no killing happening there ; )
we are community-minded (you can’t have a properly informed citizenry without a library. point final.)
and we inspire each other.
this. everyday i aim for two things:
1. care about my community
2. do that well
Peter Brantley of the Internet Archive had a great post last year about leadership in libraries, and how we can’t let just those at the top determine the future for us. in it he quotes Faulkner’s “Them that’s going, get in the goddamn wagon. Them that ain’t, get out the goddamn way.”
so i guess what i’m trying to say today, is that on those days when this gig feels a bit too paper-pushy / reprimand-y / WAY TOO MANY MEETINGS ZOMG… remember: librarians are able to start revolutions, and that is a powerful thing. we can build the future of libraryland together and show the world just how awesome it is to call yourself a librarian. it’s not going to be easy, but it is right, and as crazy as it sounds, it will make the world a better place.
if you build’em right, with fun and interesting people, you can go from this:
to this:
in about 4 minutes flat.
also, @declan and @danwho tweeted that i forgot to mention how important beer is to building a network. while not essential, it certainly can help. but not lite beer, that stuff’ll just make you enemies.
new grads frequently ask about my career path, about how i managed to move up the food chain quicker than most, and, in some awesomely awkward instances, they actually word it as “what is the secret to your success”.
this is the secret/my career path/how i macgyvered my way up in libraryland:
i reach out to others in libraryland and ask questions all the time.
that’s it.
this pic is of krista and i on our four year “anniversary” of rooming together at CiL conferences. how did it start? four years and a few months before CiL2008 i called her and said “hey, you are doing cool stuff. when i graduate from mcgill library school i want to do similar stuff to you. also, i want to go to CiL and i see you are speaking there, any chance we can split the cost of a room?” she said yes.
for the record:
1. i do not recommend asking to bunk with someone as your first foray into meeting other librarylanders.
2. #1 could work but is likely not something you can use in a “how did you guys meet” story.
3. sorry krista, for blogging about how we met!
but i did learn to always ask. if you want to go to a conference but can’t afford it, talk to the organizers and volunteer your time in return for free registration. even if it means only getting to see one session, the time spent networking with others at the conference is well worth it.
in the same vein, if you want to learn about a project/figure out how something works, just ask. you’d be surprise how nice librarians are… mostly. ; )
since then, i have found myself a group of mentors. some i work with, most i don’t. what’s most important is that i went out and built a network for myself – a network of people that i admire, and want to be like “when i grow up”. these are librarylanders with drive, ambition, perseverance, awesome ideas, and the guts to go for it when the haters are in full-on hate mode. these people? these are the ones i turn to for advice, comfort, comiseration, or a good kick in the ass. i also will eternally have their backs, as they have mine. some of them might not even realize they are mentors to me, but they are. (and for you mentors who don’t like it… sukkit. <3 jambina.)
build yourself a network. it’s not hard, but you have to be fully invested. if you do, i promise it is well worth it.
“do something” was, interestingly enough, the title that was put on the article about me for the mover and shaker award.
at first i thought it was silly – oh come on now, what does that mean?
then i realized that i say it to folks all the time. (actually, i usually say “DO EEEEEET!”)
and i often mutter “do something about this buckland” under my breath.
so today, when someone on friendfeed mentioned the taiga forum and how we need to have a place to react to this stuff, and then jenica called me out, i did it.
check out the agiat forum.
just back from computers in libraries, which is now back at the washington hilton (buh bye crystal city).
this conference always fills me with inspiration and energy to make libraryland as awesome as it can be, but this doesn’t necessarily happen in presentations.
the washington hilton has a glorious patio with three huge firepits and comfy chairs. every break in the conference, and pretty much every evening, i found myself surrounded by passionate people who are actively trying to make libraryland a better place. sitting around the fire, chatting and laughing, this is where i learned the most about great initiatives and people.
i frequently say that i want to “kill it with fire” when referring to parts of libraryland that are broken or antiquated. after being filled with inspiration sitting around a firepit, i guess i can now say that we can “build it with fire” as well.
the beauty of being a librarian (or perhaps the horror, depending on the day) is that you are always a librarian – no matter what you are chatting about, you always come back to similar themes: access, authority, and service.
awhile ago a little chat on friendfeed (which likely started nowhere near what it became) evolved into david developing a bit of a “manifesto” for what he calls (and i love) “common sense librarianship“.
go and read it. my favourite is the first:
The world of information has always been in a constant state of flux. As technology continues to changes the world of information, it is preferable for information professionals and the institutions they serve to adapt rather than perish.
and this is the thing, as much as i rant about how slow change is in libraryland, we are capable of doing it. think of the changes in libraries over the past 100 years!
open stacks
telephone reference
the automation of the library
electronic holdings
chat reference
online information literacy tutorials
(note these are not in a real order)…
our track record indicates that we are able to adapt and change, we just have to stop being scared to do it.
* nope, not a post about how newpapers are filed in libraries, how newspapers are part of library collections, nor about libraries in newspaper organizations…
i used to work at the Montreal Gazette. i worked in the newsroom for about 8 years. i started off making photocopies and delivering faxes in my CCCP tshirt (the newsroom manager didn’t worry too much about dresscodes, so long as i was dressed) and ended up compiling the scoreboard pages til the wee hours (while dealing with crank calls from editors phoning me for the cricket score for “team birdy num-num”).
it was a tremendous experience. i worked with many awesome folk, and every day was different because, ya know, that’s what it’s like in the news biz.
the 1995 referendum (with a livestream of the newsroom).
Princess Di’s death (dump everything planned for the front section and update coverage between editions. at 5pm she had been in an accident, by sports final, she was… dead?).
9/11 (well, that was just crazy. did everything that day including drive a reporter’s car to his house in the plateau because he was en route to NYC with a photog and he would have gotten a ticket outside the old gazoo bldg).
thanks to working in a newsroom, i am also most productive between 10pm and 2am, comfortable with crazy deadlines, and a stickler for the usability-side of the media (note: if the index has an inaccurate page for Ann Landers, your boss will be pissed. and if you mess up the Expos boxscore in the scoreboard page, don’t bother showing up the next day.)
i have a deep affection for the media, and especially newsrooms.
before leaving the Gazette i said that the only job i wanted there was publisher, but it’s hard to get that gig straight from copy clerk. i used to joke that i was going to start a competing newspaper in Montreal and hire away all of the best people from the Gazette. i didn’t want to do this to force the Gazette under, but because competition is healthy, and the Gazette was infinitely better when the Montreal Daily was competing against it for subscriptions. if you’re the only anglo daily in a city, there’s no reason to bring your A game, is there?
BEFORE YOU YELL AT ME… the folks at the Gazette up til now have been trying to bring their A game. but the entire concept of media is all over the place right now and old industries have a hard time adjusting. now i’m not for propping up these industries so that they don’t have to change. screw that. if libraries can move from huge tomes chained to desks to producing open access resources for the world, everyone else can learn a new trick too. but i do think we can’t dismiss the concept of the newspaper simply because “everything is online now”.
good newspapers aggregate and curate information for their local readers. they simplify or enhance, when required. they think about the local population when going through the sked. the go out in the local area and solicit feedback from people. they are the record of a place, a time, a citizenry.
good newspapers and good libraries have a helluva lot in common. i have always thought we should be working together more closely. how can we do this?
la bella ali tagged me for this awhile back… (sorry babe!) i skipped a few Qs as i am currently sans kids.
so here we go.
1. Is there anything you’ve ever eaten that was so delicious that you think of it and go kind of misty-eyed to this very day?
my mom’s yorkshire pudding tastes like joy. (and at a zillion calories, why wouldn’t it?)
2. Are you a city person or country person? Half and half? Why?
until my mid-teens i adored living in the suburbs. lachine was filled with parks, kids playing in the streets, and a real sense of community. and when i think of raising kids, i would want to do that in the ‘burbs, at least for the first few years. (note: i didn’t go to high school in lachine. best decision i ever made.) (not because lachine high wasn’t a great school, but because it got me out of the usual.)
as an adult – city. please.
4. What’s the loveliest place you’ve ever traveled? Could be wildly exotic or comfortingly local.
loveliest would be a tie between barcelona and guadeloupe. as for my new fave place to live? edinburgh. in a heartbeat.
5. Okay, same as Sigrid: Laundry tips? Please?
a rag sprayed with white vinegar stops almost all static in the dryer.
wash bright blue items with white items to increase the “whiteness”.
6. Do you have a life plan, or do you just sort of truck along?
everyday i want to be happy – adjust life accordingly. when that fails, review life, adjust accordingly. (basically – i roll with the punches.)
7. Would friends of the teenage you recognize the current you? Would you still get along?
i think they would definitely recognize me. and for the most part, we’d still get along. and like ali, i’m still friends with a bunch of them. (including ali)
8. Any novels to recommend for an almost-seven-year-old girl? What were your favourites? Which are you looking forward to sharing with your own kid(s)?
ali’s list is pretty good. i could prolly pull together a list from some youth librarians for you. these days, graphic novels are very popular and they have been proven to build literacy skills just like traditional texts. </endofmyliteracyspeech
McGill is hosting a great event on May 28, 2010 – the folks from the Public Knowledge Project will be around to give demos of their great software, and John Willinsky will be featured on a panel in the afternoon looking at New Models for the Scholarly Monograph.
if you’re interested – you can register below – but please go read the full details first!
